Everton Football Club banned journalists from The Sun from its stadium after columnist Kelvin MacKenzie compared a player who has an African grandfather to a gorilla

Everton Football Club yesterday banned journalists from The Sun from its stadium and training ground after the paper compared a player who has an African grandfather to a gorilla.

Kelvin MacKenzie wrote in the newspaper on Friday that he was not surprised that Ross Barkley, 23, was punched in a Liverpool nightclub because he was similar to a gorilla in a zoo. The star’s grandfather is Nigerian.

Everton said: ‘The newspaper has to know that any attack on this city, either against a much-respected community or individual, is not acceptable.’

MacKenzie, who called the complaints ‘beyond parody’, was The Sun’s editor when it published a front-page article following the 1989 Hillsborough disaster which claimed Liverpool fans were to blame for the tragedy in which 96 people were killed.

He was suspended by the paper on Friday.

It comes after the Mayor of Liverpool today called for Sun columnist Kelvin MacKenzie to be sacked.

Labour councillor Joe Anderson said MacKenzie 'should not be employed by any news organisation in this country'.

MacKenzie, 70, last night said he did not know about Barkley's family background and that it was 'beyond parody' for critics to describe his article as 'racist'.

But police are now investigating the article as a 'hate crime'.

Commenting on the midfielder who was punched in a Liverpool city centre bar in the early hours of Monday, MacKenzie wrote in his column: 'Perhaps unfairly, I have always judged Ross Barkley as one of our dimmest footballers.

'There is something about the lack of reflection in his eyes which makes me certain not only are the lights not on, there is definitely nobody at home.

'I get a similar feeling when seeing a gorilla at the zoo. The physique is magnificent but it's the eyes that tell the story.

'So it came as no surprise to me that the Everton star copped a nasty right-hander in a nightclub for allegedly eyeing up an attractive young lady who, as they say, was 'spoken for'.

In his column on Friday, MacKenzie wrote: 'Perhaps unfairly, I have always judged Ross Barkley as one of our dimmest footballers'

MacKenzie on Question Time in 2016. He has worked on and off at The Sun for 36 years

'The reality is that at £60,000 a week and being both thick and single, he is an attractive catch in the Liverpool area, where the only men with similar pay packets are drug dealers and therefore not at nightclubs, as they are often guests of Her Majesty.'

The article, which was published a day before the anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster which killed 96 Liverpool fans, caused outrage in Liverpool and among outspoken stars such as Joey Barton and Gary Lineker.

Labour councillor Joe Anderson told BBC Sport: 'Not only is it racist in a sense that he is of mixed-race descent, equally it's a racial stereotype of Liverpool. It is racist and prehistoric.'

He later tweeted: 'Reported McKenzie&the S*n for their racist slur on Ross Barkley and the people of Liverpool to Merseyside Police&press complaints commission.'

A News UK spokesman said: 'The views expressed about the people of Liverpool were wrong, unfunny and are not the view of the paper. The Sun apologises for the offence caused.'

The Mayor of Liverpool revealed on Twitter that he gave a statement to police about the article

Footballer Joey Barton and presenter Gary Lineker were among those to comment on the article on Twitter

Everton has responded by banning Sun journalists from the club's stadium and training facilities.

'The newspaper has to know that any attack on this city, either against a much-respected community or individual, is not acceptable,' the club said on its website.

Police said Saturday they are looking into the matter after receiving an online complaint from a member of the public.

'Enquiries are now being carried out to establish the full circumstances of the incident,' police said in a statement. 'We take all allegations of hate crime extremely seriously.'

The column has been removed from the newspaper's website.

MacKenzie oversaw the newspaper when it ran a front page story four days after the 1989 Hillsborough tragedy, headlined The Truth, which featured claims that some Liverpool fans had 'picked pockets of victims' and 'urinated on brave cops'.

He has issued several apologies since over the coverage which he now says was based on 'deliberate misinformation from the South Yorkshire Police'.

Last year an inquest jury concluded the 96 fans were unlawfully killed and that the behaviour of Liverpool supporters at the FA Cup semi-final played no role in causing the tragedy.

KELVIN MACKENZIE'S CAREER

MacKenzie left Alleyn's School in Dulwich with one O-level, English literature.

He joined the South East London Mercury at 17.

He worked on local and then national newspapers including Daily Express for the next ten years.

In 1981 he became editor of The Sun until 1994.

Kelvin MacKenzie as editor of the Sun in 1989. He became the editor there in 1981

He was known for overseeing unfounded and inaccurate front page stories such as one alleging that Elton John had had sex with underage rentboys, for which the singer was awared £1m in damages.

In 1995, MacKenzie joined Mirror Group Newspapers and was appointed joint boss of its fledgling L!VE TV British cable television channel.

In November 1998, MacKenzie headed a consortium, TalkCo Holdings, which purchased Talk Radio from CLT for £24.7m.

In September 2005, MacKenzie took over Highbury House Communications, a magazine publishing company.

MacKenzie then spent a year as chairman of one of the UK's largest marketing and communications groups, Media Square plc.

In March 2006, MacKenzie joined BBC Radio Five Live as a presenter.

In May 2006, MacKenzie returned to The Sun as a columnist.

MacKenzie's famous Falklands War front page headline which was criticized as inappropriate because many lost their lives when the Argentine cruiser was sank. It was said to epitomise MacKenzie's cynical, jingoistic and bloodthirsty war coverage

MacKenzie oversaw the newspaper when it ran a front page story four days after the 1989 Hillsborough tragedy, headlined The Truth, which featured claims that some Liverpool fans had 'picked pockets of victims' and 'urinated on brave cops'